Learning From the Masters
by Ehval
Summary: AU… With Red and Blue having finished their journey, they end up having nothing to do anymore. However, Professor Oak sends the duo to mentor two new trainers in Hoenn. What awaits the two veterans in this region?
1. Ch 1: And So It Begins

**This is my first story, so I apologize in advance if my spelling, grammar, details, etc. are incorrect.**

**Age:**

**Red – 16**

**Blue – 16**

**May - 15**

**Brendan – 15**

**Any new characters that appear, I will mention their age as well. I will also take polls if anyone wants to pair up anyone. Please R&R. Enjoy.**

"I'm telling you man, we have to do something rather than stay here." said a boy lying down on a couch. He had blue eyes and spikey brown hair. He wore a black jacket with khaki pants.

"I suppose," responded a boy seated on a chair with black hair and red eyes. He was fairly tall and had a red vest with white sleeves and a black shirt underneath. He wore his signature red and white cap, alongside his blue jeans.

After a moment a silence, there was a ringing sound. The boy with blue eyes picked up his PokeGear. "What's up Gramps?" he answered.

"Blue, can you please come to my lab, and please bring Red with you?" The old professor requested.

"Yeah, we'll be on our way," he replied.

"Okay, I'll be expecting you soon," Oak said.

"Hey Red, Gramps wants us to meet him at the lab," said Blue. Red nodded and arose from his seated position.

"Maybe he wants us to go do some errands or something? It'd be way better than staying here all day," Blue said, excited as ever. Red simply shrugged as they started to go to the door.

They departed Red's house and walked to Oak's Laboratory. It was rather cold, since it was an October morning, so they hurried along to reach the lab. Upon arrival, the duo looked around, remembering the memories of them receiving their first Pokemon. Inside, you could see the old professor seated and reading a book. He looked up at the sound of the door closing and went to greet them.

"Ah, Red and Blue. How have you 2 been?" he asked with a warm smile.

"We've been alright Gramps, just bored out of our minds," Blue said.

"Well boys, I have a request for both of you," the professor said.

Upon hearing this, Blue started to smile curiously and Red actually started paying attention to the researcher.

"You see, my friend in the Hoenn region, Professor Birch, has asked me to send 2 experienced trainers to mentor 2 new trainers. How does that sound?"

Blue couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was what he was waiting for. Red on the other hand, looked around hopelessly bored.

"So what do you say boys?" Oak asked.

"Yeah, of course we'll go, right Red?" asked an eager Blue.

"Sure," replied Red.

"Great," said the researcher, "I have tickets for the S.S. Anne in Vermillion. It should take you to Slateport and it will leave in about 3 hours. When you arrive in Slateport, head to Littleroot town to his lab." he said as he handed the 2 tickets.

"Alright, thanks Gramps," Blue said as they left.

Once outside the lab, Blue called out his Pidgeot and Red called out his Charizard. The 2 Pokemon seemed to radiate strength. "Ready to go Red?" asked Blue.

"Obviously," replied an emotionless Red. The 2 trainers jumped on their respective Pokemon, and took off.

As they reached Vermillion City, they noticed that the S.S. Anne was already leaving. "Damn it, we were late!" exclaimed an annoyed Blue.

"Come on," said Red.

The ship had already left the dock, and was fairly far. Red and Blue followed it still riding their respective Pokemon. Noticing the tickets were useless now, Blue threw them into the sea.

"What're we supposed to do, land our Pokemon on a moving ship?" said a joking Blue. Red nodded, much to his surprise.

"Are you crazy?" Blue asked with disbelief.

Red ignored him and landed his Charizard on the deck.. He got off and called back his powerful friend. He looked up and saw Blue hesitate to do the same. Red shook his head and went inside to look for something to eat.

"Well, hopefully I don't die," Blue said to himself. Much to his surprise, he landed it just like Red. He put his Pidgeot back in his Pokeball and went to go find Red.

Minutes turned to hours, and Blue still couldn't find him. He then heard a voice over the loudspeaker, "Attention all passengers, we will arrive in Slateport City in 10 mintues."

Blue continued to look for Red, but had no success. His best friend was nowhere to be found. When the ship finally arrived, he went to the dock along with all the other passengers.

Once at the dock, he saw Red patiently waiting for him. "Red, where the hell were you?" asked a furious Blue.

"I went to go get something to eat, and then this nice lady offered me cabin, so I took a nap there," he said in a quiet tone.

Blue couldn't even come up with a good response, he just shook his head. "Man, it sure is hot here," Blue said. Red nodded and took out his PokeGear. He pointed west and said "Littleroot is that way."

The duo then took out their Pokeballs and called out their companions once more. As they were getting on their Pokemon, they received many strange looks as the people weren't used to Kanto native Pokemon. They then took off again.

It took 2 hours for them to arrive, mostly due to Blue confusing Oldale Town with Littleroot, causing them to walk around aimlessly looking for a lab that wasn't there.

Upon arrival, they spotted a large building, which they knew was a Pokemon lab. They entered the lab, and saw a fairly large man with 2 other people.

They walked up to the man and Blue asked, "Hey, are you professor Birch?"

The large man looked at them and responded, " Yes, how can I help you 2?"

Blue looked at Red and back at Birch and said, "We were sent by professor Oak to help mentor 2 kids or something as trainers."

Birch's eyes widened and asked "Wait, you 2 young men are the experienced trainers?"

Blue taking it as an insult replied, "Yeah, we may only be 16 but we're really good trainers, huh Red?" Red nodded.

"Very well," said the professor. "This is May and Brendan."

Blue studied the 2. The one called May had a red bandana and a red collared shirt. She had blue biker shorts with a white skirt. The boy known as Brendan essentially had the male version of that outfit.

"Hi, nice to meet you," said May.

"What a pleasure," said Brendan.

"Well, these 2 already chose their starter, so you can proceed anytime. Your mission is to help them get all 8 gym badges, by guiding them and showing them the ropes. Please, help them become the best trainers they can be, ok?" Birch requested.

Both Red and Blue nodded. "Well, let's go guys," said Blue.

They said goodbye to the professor and made their way to route 101. Overlooking the route in front of them, they know this would be the beginning of a long journey.

**Well, that's the beginning of it. I apologize if I missed any important details, or I rushed it a bit. This is mostly an adventure story, but I can add more romantic elements if you guys want. Thanks for reading. Drop a review please.**


	2. Ch 2: Capture and Battle

**Hey guys. Sorry if the last chapter was extremely short. If you guys want me to add any specific Pokemon to May/Brendan's team, make sure to leave it in the review box, or PM me. Thanks.**

The quartet walked along the relative flat route, with May and Brendan arguing about who had chose the better starter.

"No, my Torchic is better than your Mudkip," said the brunette.

"No, my Mudkip has a type advantage against yours," retorted Brendan,

Blue looked at Red saying, "This reminds me of us when we were younger, don't you think?"

Red wasn't paying attention, he was too busy thinking of what he would do to professor Oak when he saw him again.

Suddenly, there was a piercing scream. Blue and Red looked at May, assuming it was her. However, it was Brendan that screamed like a girl, much to their dismay. "What Brendan, what now?" asked Blue.

Brendan had the looked like he had seen a ghost. He was staring into the bushes at something specific.

May followed his gaze and noticed it was a Pokemon, and pulled out her Pokedex. The Pokedex then said aloud, "Wurmple, the worm Pokemon, it sticks to tree branches and eats leaves. The thread it spits from its mouth, which becomes gooey when it touches air, slows the movement of its foes."

May stared at the little Pokemon, and with hearts in her eyes she exclaimed " Oh my gosh, it's so cute!"

Red's left eye twitched, and with a quiet voice said, "Why don't you try to catch it?" May was taken aback as that was the first time she had heard him speak. "Okay, I will!" she said confidently.

She reached in her bag and called out Torchic. "Alright Torchic, use flamethrower!" said the brunnete.

The little chick Pokemon looked at May with a confused face, while Brendan and Blue facepalmed. "May, I don't think Torchic knows that move," Blue said.

"Of course he does! He's a fire type after all," she said trying to defend her judgment

While Blue and Brendan were clearly annoyed, Red was as emotionless as ever. He proceeded to say in a quiet tone, "Maybe it knows ember. Try that."

May seemed hesitant at first, but agreed. "Alright Torchic, use ember!" The orange Pokemon took a deep breath in, and released little bouts of flames from its beak that burned Wurmple. "Alright, good job Torchic!" Seconds later, her companion Pokemon was tackled by the little worm.

"Alright, use ember again!" she said. It once again hit the Wurmple.

She then threw a Pokeball at it. 1 shake, 2 shakes, and upon the 3rd shake, the Wurmple was caught.

With excitement beyond words, she screamed, "Sweet, I caught a Wurmple." She then proceeded to brag about it to Brendan, saying stuff along the lines of "I caught a Pokemon before you did," and "You wish you were as good as me."

"Alright, shut it," Blue said, " Let's just continue to the next town. Speaking of which, what town is next?"

Red pointed towards the north and said, "Oldale town is that way."

After about 30 minutes of walking, Brendan spoke up saying, "I can't take this. It's just too much walking!"

May smirked and whispered to herself, "What a wimp."

A furious Brendan said, "What'd you say?" May couldn't stop laughing.

Annoyed, Blue suggested to Red, "Why don't we just use Pidgeot and Charizard to fly us to the next town? They can carry all 4 of us, so why not?"

Red looked him with a blank expression and said, "The professor said to help them and guide them, not to shortcut them through routes. If we could do it, so can they."

Upon hearing this, May spoke up, "Wait, you guys did a Pokemon journey too?"

"If we didn't, we wouldn't be considered experienced trainers, right?" Blue said with pride. He then went on to say "I was even Pokemon league champion. Well, I was until Red beat me and took my title."

"Sure you were," May said with sarcasm.

"I'm serious!" said Blue. Why didn't they believe him? "Right Red? I was champion but you took the title from me?" he asked him. He knew Red would back him up. Much to his surprise though, Red just shrugged and said, "I guess."

"What a friend you are," he muttered to himself.

After a few minutes of walking silently, they reached Oldale town. They walked up to the front of the Pokemon center.

"May, I know your Torchic isn't seriously hurt, but you should probably heal it up just in case," Blue said.

"Alright," she replied as she went inside. In less than 2 minutes, she came back to satisfied look on her face. "Where to next? I want to try out my new Wurmple in battle," she said with a smirk.

Brendan had enough of this, "You think you're so good huh? Just cause you caught a single Pokemon, you're the best now? You know what, I challenge you to a battle, my Mudkip against your Torchic.

May screamed back, "You're on wimp!"

Blue was getting nervous, while Red actually smiled. "You know Red, sometimes I'm grateful that we traveled alone during our journey," Blue said.

Red walked up between the 2 youngsters and said, "It's acceptable you want to battle, but a town is not a place to battle. Let's go elsewhere."

Brendan and May were about to object, but they saw the seriousness in his eyes. "Fine," the 2 said.

They walked up north to route 103. Red then looked around and said, "Alright, here is a good place to battle, begin."

"Alright Torchic, let's kick Brendan's butt!" the brunette said as she called out her Pokemon.

"Mudkip, let's show them how strong we are," exclaimed Brendan doing the same.

"Alright Torchic, jump up and use scratch!" yelled May. The little Pokemon jumped and attempted to scratch its opponent.

"Dodge it quickly, and use water gun!" ordered Brendan. Mudkip evaded the attack as ordered and did a point-blank water gun. Upon impact, the Torchic fainted.

"So it looks like Brendan wins this battle," said Blue. He then whispered to Red, "That sure was short." Red simply nodded.

"You got lucky since you had the type advantage!" screamed May.

"Maybe you should stop being so cocky," replied Brendan. The bickering continued for several minutes.

"Alright, both of you shut up. Let's head back to Oldale town," said Blue.

On the way back, Blue whispered to Red, "I don't think I can handle this. We haven't even gotten to the 3rd route and it's already this bad."

Red shook his head and said with a smile, "I had to put up with you back then, so I'm sure I can handle these kids."

"What do you mean by that?" asked an angry Blue.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," said Red in quiet tone.

As they arrived at Oldale town, it was almost sundown. Red then said "We can stay in town until tomorrow, or we can camp out at route 102."

Blue and Red wanted to camp out, while Brendan and May were against the idea.

"Well, we are your mentors, so we decide what to do, and we currently decided to camp out," said Blue with a smirk.

They listened without objection, which was a surprise to Blue. As they walked, they heard someone say, "Hey you, with the red vest, I want to battle you. You look weak!"

"Oh great," muttered Red.

**So that's the chapter. I'm trying to make them longer, but it's somewhat difficult. I hope you guys enjoyed. Remember; leave any suggestions for teams, pairings, etc. in the review box. Thanks.**


	3. Ch 3: Long Journey Ahead

**Could you guys please review? Even if you're going to bash it, at least give me a heads up on why this story is or isn't to your liking. I already have the whole plot laid out, but I can change it up a bit if you want. Thanks.**

Red kept walking, pretending to not hear the trainer that called him out.

"Hey, where are you going?" the trainer called. He had a look of high self-esteem on his face. He continued to taunt him, "Come on, battle me, or are you scared?"

Blue whispered to his fellow trainer, "Just wipe the floor with him to make him shut up."

Red shook his head and whispered back, "No, there's no point."

Blue smirked and said, "Fine, if you won't take him on, then I will!"

Red knew that Blue wasn't going to hold back, so he spoke up, "Nevermind, I'll just take him on I suppose."

He turned to the trainer, without any sign of emotion and said, "Alright, I'll battle you. Only 3 Pokemon though."

"Sweet! Let's do this then!" the trainer said as he called out his first Pokemon, "Let's go Wingull."

"Pikachu, go easy on him," he said quietly. A little mouse Pokemon, the size of an infant, appeared ready to fight.

The sight of Pikachu made May squeal, "That is the cutest thing ever!" This caused Brendan to facepalm.

Blue then told May, "It may look harmless, but that same Pikachu managed to take down my Blastoise and Pidgeot. It's one of the strongest Pokemon on his team."

Brendan and May looked confused as ever. They didn't know what a Blastoise or Pidgeot was, but since the battle was about to start, they didn't want to distract anyone.

"Haha, you think that little runt can beat my Wingull? You're kidding," the boy said in the arrogant manner. Red however, didn't seem to care. He was used to this kind of attitude from opponents, especially after his first battles with Blue.

"Alright Wingull, use wing attack!" commanded the trainer.

"Dodge it, and use quick attack to circle him," commanded Red.

Pikachu obeyed his master's orders and evaded the bird Pokemon's attack with ease, then with lightning fast speed, circled around Wingull.

Seeing he was in trouble, the trainer said, "Wingull, use water gun in a circle!"

Wingull obeyed, but the tactic seemed to fail. No matter how fast he tried, Pikachu was 1 step ahead.

"Let's end this already, Pikachu turn the quick attack into volt tackle, and attack him," Red calmly said.

The mouse Pokemon did as told and you could soon hear the mouse repeat, "Pika pika pika pika pika pika pika!" as he started leaving a trail of yellow sparks, he smashed into Wingull, causing a 1 hit KO.

Completely taken aback, the trainer said, "You just got lucky. You won't be able to beat my next Pokemon." He then called out his 2nd Pokemon, a Poochyena.

Red was not amused at this point, "Pikachu, just use quick attack to close the distance between you 2, and use a point blank thunderbolt."

Pikachu used quick attack and went at such a speed it looked as if he teleported. He was then nose to nose with Poochyena, and released volts of electricity from his body, once again resulting in a 1 hit KO.

Brendan and May looked in awe. Maybe these guys weren't kidding when they said they were experienced. Blue had a smirk the whole time, thinking to himself, '_I don't know what that kid was thinking taking on Red. If I was him, I would just forfeit right now.'_

As if Blue was psychic, the boy did exactly what Blue thought to himself.

"Okay, I don't want to battle anymore, you're too strong," he said.

Red nodded and walked away. When he approached the group, Brendan spoke up "Wow Red, that was awesome!"

That was all he managed to hear. After that, he zoned out, not wanting to hear all the pointless compliments. He then heard Blue's voice, "Not too shabby. You could have just thunderbolted from a distance, rather than all those fancy moves."

Red shrugged, "I like to make everything an event," he said with sarcasm.

Blue looked up. "Well, we can continue for about 30 more minutes before we make camp. Let's go," he said.

On the way, Red wished he were dead. May and Brendan wouldn't stop asking him questions such as "How did you get so good?" or "Why is your Pokemon so cute?" and other pointless questions.

Eventually, he was saved by Blue saying, "Alright, let's camp out here." While Blue and Red set up a campfire, May and Brendan looked around, not sure what to do.

"We really need to show these kids how to make camp," Blue said to Red.

"No kidding," he replied as he was searching for wood.

Once he had enough fire wood, he called out his Charizard. "Alright Charizard, use a very weak flamethrower to light up this wood," he said to the giant orange lizard. He released a small flame and lit the wood.

Red called him back, "Thanks buddy."

Blue then started setting up the tents. He pulled out all the supplies from his backpack, which seemed quite small, but was able to store a lot of supplies. After finishing setting up tents, you could hear May say, "I'm starving!"

Blue and Red looked at each other, and nodded accordingly. Red then got up, and as he was leaving, Brendan asked, "Hey, where are you going?"

Red looked at him blankly and replied, "To go get us dinner."

May and Brendan wanted to throw up.

"What, haven't you youngsters eaten meat? Where do you think it comes from?" Blue asked.

Red left and came back, with a couple Magikarps. He then stabbed a stick through them and cooked them over the fire.

May looked at the poor pokemon, and felt pity towards it.

Red saw her expression and said without looking up, "Food is food. We don't really have a choice."

May nodded, no longer bothered.

Blue looked at the Magikarp, "Alright, dig in."

Even though Brendan knew it was Magikarp, it was still strangely good. Actually it was, really good.

"Alright, time to sleep. We only have 2 tents, so who's going to share with who?" asked a tired Blue.

May looked around, she didn't want to share a tent with any of the boys.

Red noticing this said, "I can just sleep out here. I did bring my sleeping bag. You can share with Brendan, right Blue?"

"Sure dude. You fine with that Brendan?" Blue asked.

Brendan nodded without objection.

Everyone headed to their respective sleeping location. May in her own tent, Brendan and Blue in a single tent, and Red outside in his sleeping bag.

Alone in her tent, May thought to herself, '_So this is a Pokemon journey. It's way rougher than I expected, and we haven't even gotten to our 3rd city yet. Heck, not even the 1st badge. Maybe tomorrow will be better.'_

She tried to go to sleep, but she couldn't. After about 30 minutes, she got out of her tent to get fresh air. She sat down on the cold hard ground. She looked up at the night sky dotted with stars. She eventually closed her eyes, relaxing.

"Can't sleep, huh?" said a voice.

May jumped at the sudden sound. She turned around to see Red. She studied him and his almost glowing red eyes.

"Oh, it's just you Red," she said relieved.

"Can't sleep?" he asked as he was looking down at the ground.

"No, I can't. I not used to sleeping outdoors. I prefer being indoors," she said quietly.

"I can't blame you, I was the same way at first. I remember during my journey how much I struggled to make a simple fire. I didn't have a mentor or even friends to travel with, but it was fun," he said with a weak smile.

"I thought you and Blue traveled together?" she asked curiously.

"No, I mean, we would bump into each other occasionally. As usual, he would always be 1 step ahead of me, but I still kept going," Red said quietly.

May sat there thinking, '_If he struggled and succeeded, maybe I can too. Also, I just noticed, I don't remember him being so talkative._'

"Well, you better try to get some sleep. We have a long day of traveling tomorrow," he said.

May nodded and headed back to her tent, thinking of what was to come tomorrow. She closed her eyes, and drifted to sleep.

**So that's the chapter. I added hints of Red x May cause I'm digging that pairing. Probably won't make it happen though. Leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks guys!**


	4. Ch 4: How Much Worse?

**I don't have much to say, so let's continue the story. Remember, if you have any suggestions, don't hesitate to say anything. Thanks!**

Brendan awoke to the smell of delicious food. He looked around and noticed that Blue wasn't in the tent. "He must have already woken up," he said to himself.

He emerged from the tent, and saw the trio sitting around a campfire, which was cooking meat. Brendan didn't even want to know what Pokemon that was.

"About time you woke up. It's almost 10am, sleeping beauty," said Blue with a tired voice. "You know, you sure move around in your sleep, woke me up every 30 minutes," he continued.

"Sorry," Brendan replied sheepishly.

"Hurry, get a bite of Tailow before we head out," said Blue.

The last thing he wanted to know was what Pokemon they were eating. The morning wasn't off to a good start for Brendan. He went to go join them. He sat down and Red passed him a wing. To his surprise, it tasted even better than the Magikarp.

"You like it?" asked May.

Brendan nodded with delight.

"Good, cause I cooked it myself. Red and Blue showed me how to cook it properly!" she said happily.

Brendan was surprised, but nonetheless continued to devour the poor fried Pokemon.

"Alright, that's enough eating. We don't want to throw up while walking. Petalburg City is 5 miles west," said Blue.

Red looked at his PokeGear and said, "It's actually 7 miles west, but close enough."

Blue gazed at Red annoyed, but shook his head realizing trying to argue wouldn't do anything.

"Alright youngsters, let's get walking," said Blue.

"We're only 1 year younger than both of you. How are we youngsters?" asked May.

"Because you're young in terms of experience, right Red?" the former champion asked his best friend.

"Sure, why not," Red said. He wasn't much for talking; he just wanted to get this whole mentoring thing over with. He arose along with the others, and helped clean up camp. Once they were done, they headed out.

As they were walking along, Red thought to himself, '_This region sure is different. It's way different than Kanto, and much hotter too._'

After walking in silence for about 10 minutes, May decided to ask, "So Blue, are you as strong as Red?"

Blue smirked and said, "Are you kidding? I'm probably stronger. It's been forever since we battled, so I'm sure I'm way stronger now."

Upon hearing what Blue said, Red smiled a genuine smile.

"See, he's even smiling 'cause he knows it's true," Blue said.

"Blue, we're going to have a battle once this whole thing is over," Red said in a mysterious tone.

"Why not right now?" asked a determined Blue.

"Once we're done with this journey, we will," replied Red.

Blue knew it was no use. If Red didn't want to battle, you couldn't force him.

Finally after walking 2 hours, they arrived in Petalburg,

"Hey, my dad is a gym leader here," said Brendan.

"Oh yeah, he's normal type right?" asked May. Brendan nodded.

Blue then thought to himself, '_If he's a normal type gym leader, my Machamp could easily destroy him. Wait… I'm here to guide them, not to battle gym leaders._'

"I know what you're thinking Blue. It's okay 'cause I was thinking the same thing," Red said with a smirk. They looked at each other and shook their heads.

"What's up with them?" asked May.

"Beats me. Let's go say hi to my dad!" Brendan said as he ran towards the gym building with May running behind him.

"So Brendan and Ma-" Blue stopped what he was saying as he noticed that their 2 apprentices weren't there.

Red noticed this too, and saw them from a distance running.

"Come on Blue, they're over there," he said while running towards the 2 novices.

The 2 veterans caught up with Brendan and May.

"Are you guys idiots?" asked an angry Blue.

"Sorry," Brendan and May said in unison.

"So this is the gym?" asked Red as he gestured towards the building.

"Yeah, my dad is the gym leader here!" Brendan said with pride. They entered the building, and saw a man with dark hair, and a red shirt.

"Dad!" shouted Brendan. He walked up to where his father was meditating.

Taken by surprise, he said, "Brendan, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I started my journey with May. These 2 are also helping us along the way," he made a careless gesture towards Red and Blue.

"Hello, my name is Blue," he said extending his hand for a handshake.

"Norman," the gym leader said accepting the handshake. Blue suddenly felt a sudden pain in his arm and noticed Norman had gripped it hard.

Trying to play it off, he smiled and whimpered quietly after letting go.

"And your name is?" Norman asked while looking at Red.

"Red," the trainer whispered in a quiet tone. Norman was rather shocked by his rude manners for not offering a handshake, but pushed the thought aside.

"So son, how has your journey been so far? How many Pokemon do you have?" Norman asked curiously.

"Well you see… I still only have my starter," Brendan replied embarrassed.

"Oh well that's unfortunate," replied his father with a somewhat upset look.

"We really should get going," said Blue. He was anxious to leave already.

"Really? Why?" asked Brendan with disappointment.

"We're supposed to be in Petalburg Woods already," lied Blue.

Against Brendan and May's protest, Blue dragged them out. "Alright, let's keep going. We still have hours of sunlight," Blue said.

The 2 novices groaned. Who knew a journey would be this bad. Needless to say, they followed Blue. After about an hour, they arrived at a beach.

"We should relax here and go swimming for a bit!" said May.

Red shook his head and said, "You guys can go ahead and swim. I'll just be here." He then sat down on the soft sand and closed his eyes.

"You're kidding right? You're agreeing with these kids?" asked a dumbfound Blue.

"We've been walking for a while. Even I took breaks while traveling back in Kanto," replied a calm Red.

Noticing their victory, Brendan and May high fived.

"Good thing I brought swim wear," said May.

"I'll stay with Red," said Brendan. He didn't have any suitable clothes to go swimming, so he figured he might as well keep him company.

"What about you Blue?" asked the brunette.

"I guess I'll go," he replied hesitantly. He then pulled out some shorts from his backpack and went into some bushes to change. May did the same after him and they were ready to go.

As they were sitting, Red noticed that Brendan kept staring at May. She was wearing a 2 piece swimsuit that had an oran berry pattern on them. Blue was wearing simple black swim trunks.

"Come on May!" Blue said. He was actually getting in the mood, as even he was tired of walking for so long. He ran to the waves with May close behind him.

After a couple minutes of swimming, Blue said, "Let's have some fun."

He called out his first and strongest Pokemon: Blastoise.

"Wow, that's a cool Pokemon!" said May in awe.

"Thanks, he was my first Pokemon too. He's now the strongest Blastoise in all of Kanto." Blue said with his fist in the air.

After about 30 minutes of swimming and having fun with Blastoise, they decided to rejoin Red and Brendan.

Upon arrival, Brendan had the most horrified and shy look on his face, while Red was emotionless as ever.

"What happened? Did he say another Wurmple?" May asked jokingly.

"We just had a talk," said Red with a smirk.

"Okay then guys. Let's get going again," said Blue. He went to go change again, and May went after him like before.

"Petalburg Woods should by north since we are on route 104," said Blue.

They followed Blue once more and arrived at the entrance of the woods. They entered them and Brendan commented, "It sure is dense. You could easily get lost."

May and Blue nodded, while Red was zoned out. After a couple minutes of walking, Brendan started screaming.

"It's probably another Wurmple," Blue muttered to himself.

His guess was accurate, as it was another little worm Pokemon. Brendan however, couldn't handle being near it, and ran away in fear deeper into the woods. Red managed to follow him and calm him down, but then it had occurred to him, "Blue? May?" he yelled throughout the woods.

"Great, we're separated from them," Red said to himself.

_With Blue and May…_

"Oh fantastic, where did that idiot head to?" Blue said while looking around.

They were now separated from each other, lost in the woods, and all of this happened before even getting a single badge. Just how bad could this journey get?

**I'm really sorry if this chapter felt rushed. It's quite late as I'm working on this, and adding details has never been my strong point. If it is quite vague, I will try to improve upon it. I might just edit it more sometime later, but this is it so far. Thanks!**


	5. Ch 5: Life and Death

**Hey guys, I'm thinking about adding more dark elements to this story, tell me what you think. Thanks.**

_With Red and Brendan…_

Red didn't know what he did to deserve this. At the very least Blue was stuck with May, who wasn't as much of a pain as Brendan. Red could see Brendan frantically run around in a circle, scared of the current situation he was in.

"Alright, calm down. We'll find them, come on," Red said to him.

Brendan still wouldn't relax and kept running around in circles.

"This is just great," Red muttered to himself.

_With Blue and May…_

"Blue, I think they went this way," May said to him.

Blue nodded and followed the brunette.

"Let go of me!" said a voice.

Blue and May looked at each other and followed the source of the voice. They finally found the voice of distress, it was a man being robbed.

"Give me the goods, or this isn't going to end well," said a man. He was wearing all blue and had a bandana. There was Mightyena by his side, ready to attack if the victim didn't comply.

"Hey leave him alone!" shouted May. Blue put his hand on her shoulder, signifying her to calm down and let him handle it. He no longer had the smile his face always had, and his eyes were serious compared to being cheerful previously.

"Let him go," said Blue in a serious tone. His voice also was no longer filled with energy and excitement.

"Or what?" asked the man in a taunting manner.

Blue called 1 of his best physical fighting Pokemon: Machamp.

"I'm serious, let him go or I'll have to make you," said Blue.

The man understood that Blue wanted to battle and said, "Mightyena, use bite."

"Dodge and use karate chop," Blue ordered.

The fighting type dodged Mightyena with ease and landed a quick but powerful hit on his opponent. Mightyena whimpered in pain, but was still able to fight despite the super effective move.

'_Machamp is 1 of my strongest fighting types, and this Mightyena was able to take a super effective hit from it. I better finish this fast then' _Blue thought to himself.

"Alright Machamp, let's end this, use seismic toss," said Blue.

Mightyena looked back at his trainer and nodded. Despite Machamp's speed, Mightyena was able to dodge the attack. Blue's eyes widened as he noticed the wolf-like Pokemon was charging towards him. He tried to get out of the way, but the Mightyena pounced on him, ready to bite him.

"Don't even think your Pokemon can save you. If your Pokemon or friend even moves an inch, you're dead," the man said with a grin on his face.

"Stay there Machamp," Blue nervously said. He saw how close the Mightyena was to biting him. Only mere inches were separating his neck from fearsome jaws.

May started to panic, she didn't know what to do. She felt tears form in her eyes.

"Alright, give me the goods now!" ordered the criminal.

The man seeing no other choice, extended his hand to give him what he wanted.

Suddenly however, a yellow spark came and paralyzed the Mightyena, while a spore paralyzed the criminal.

Blue pushed the Pokemon off him since it was no longer able to bite him due to being paralyzed. He then ordered his Machamp, "Alright Machamp, grab hold of both him and that Mightyena."

He followed his trainer's orders and held both of them with his 4 hands.

"Wow, that sure was close," Brendan said emerging from the bushes with Red.

Blue looked at Red and nodded. "Thanks," Blue said. Red gave a small smile as a form of 'you're welcome.'

Blue remembered he had Machamp hold both of the perpetrators.

"Who do you work for?" asked Blue.

The criminal simply looked away and said, "Like I would tell you."

Blue nodded at Machamp, and suddenly the criminal felt himself being squeezed tighter and tighter with his Pokemon.

"Well?" Blue asked.

The criminal could no longer handle the pain, and even his Mightyena was whimpering loudly. He finally said, "Team Aqua. I work for Team Aqua."

May and Brendan looked at Blue, they didn't know he could be so ruthless. They made a mental note to themselves to not mess with him in the future.

Blue remembered he had wanted to steal some 'goods' from the other man and asked, "Why did you want those goods for?"

The Team Aqua member replied in pain, "I really don't know why. I was just ordered to get them!"

"Let him go Machamp," Blue said.

The fighting Pokemon released his hold on the 2.

"If we ever run into you again, we'll make sure you don't live after we're done with you," Red said.

May and Brendan looked at each other with a nervous face. They then made another note to especially not mess with Red. The grunt then ran off with his Mightyena.

"Thanks you so much," the man said. "My boss would've killed me if I lost these goods."

"It was no problem, we're just glad to help," replied Blue.

"Well, I better get going. Thanks again," said the man as he left.

Blue then turned to Brendan and was about to scold him, but decided not to at the last moment due to the events the just unfolded earlier.

"Alright, let's just forget this whole thing happened and let's just go, okay?" asked Blue.

Brendan and May nodded, remembering how different Red and Blue were moments ago.

As they walked through the woods, May and Brendan walked a little bit behind Red and Blue to talk.

"Hey Brendan, what was that spore that paralyzed the guy? I know Red used his Pikachu for the Mightyena, but I didn't know he had a grass type?" asked May.

"Oh, the stun spore? I caught a Shroomish when I was with Red. He also helped me get over my fear of bug types," Brendan replied while scratching the back of his head in an embarrassed manner.

"Oh, that's good," May said. She was happy for her friend.

While the 2 novices continued to converse, Red and Blue were having a conversation of their own.

"Thanks again Red, I would've died if it wasn't for you," said Blue.

"I guess I owed you for saving me from Team Rocket back then," replied Red

Blue remembered what Red was talking about. It was months ago when Team Rocket held hostages in the Silph Co building. Red was about to get squashed by a Nidoking, but Blue managed to save him using his Machamp.

Blue smiled and continued to walk in silence. After a couple minutes, they finally left the woods.

"So we're still on route 103?" asked Brendan.

"Yeah, and it looks like we're going to camp out here. Rustboro should be a couple miles away, but it's a little bit too dark right now. Any objections?" asked Blue.

Brendan and May shook their heads. They were becoming more open minded compared to yesterday.

Red once again caught some Magikarp in the nearby lake, while Blue set up the tents. They had the same sleeping arrangements as last time. The quartet were all exhausted from the long day, and decided to eat their food quickly.

"Alright, I'm heading to sleep, goodnight," said May as she went into her tent.

"Goodnight," Brendan and Blue said as they went into their tent.

Red just sat there, even he was tired from the long day. He pulled out his sleeping bag and proceeded to lie down. He closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

**Tell me what you guys think about the direction of this story. Thanks again!**


	6. Ch 6: Gym Battles

**Hey guys, next chapter is here. Also, I recently got a beta reader, so the next chapters are better than ever. His username is K. E. Holt. Make sure to check out his story. Also, there is a poll on my profile to vote on which pairing you want, so go and vote!**

Red woke up to the sound of taillow. He looked around. The sky was just beginning to turn blue, and he could just see the sun rising over the horizon. It was a beautiful dawn, around six or seven in the morning by his estimate. This was the second time he had woken up this early in recent memory.

"They haven't woken up yet. I guess I better go get us breakfast," he said to himself, looking around the campsite sleepily.

He got up from his lying-down position, rolled up his sleeping bag and put it in his backpack. He then departed to the woods after making a mental note of where the camp was.

After a few minutes of walking, he stopped to study his surroundings. The sun was still rising, and it was somewhat chilly due to winter approaching.

He noticed a lone Slakoth sitting on the ground lazily, halfheartedly scratching its stomach with one hand. '_That pokémon looks interesting. I wonder what it tastes like_,' he thought to himself. He approached it slowly from the rear, making sure not to startle it, and hid in some nearby bushes. He studied it for couple seconds. The pokémon didn't seem to want to move. He decided he didn't even need his Pokémon for this kill.

He quickly ran out of bushes and grabbed the sloth-like Pokémon, preparing to snap its neck. As he was about to kill it, he heard a roar. He looked up and saw two Pokémon. One was a vigoroth, and other one was a slaking.

He looked at the two angry Pokémon and assumed they were the parents. They clearly weren't very pleased that Red was going to make their son into a meal.

"Oh, great," Red said nervously.

Back at the campsite…

May awoke to the sound of an agonized scream. She couldn't distinguish if it belonged to a human or pokémon. She got up swiftly, left her tent, and looked around the campsite. To her shock, Red was nowhere to be found.

Seconds later, she noticed Blue emerge from his tent with a look of worry on his face.

"What was that?" asked Blue.

"I don't know. I think it came from the woods. Wait, where's Brendan?" she asked Blue.

"Oh, Brendan? He's still getting his beauty sleep," Blue replied, somewhat annoyed. He proceeded to ask, "Where's Red?"

"I'm not sure. He probably went to go get breakfast," she guessed. Now that she thought about it, she was probably right.

Unsure of what to do, they just waited in silence for a couple minutes.

Suddenly, a roar came from the woods. And with a rustling of grass and leaves a shape followed it.

Red was running for dear life. He still had a calm look on his face, but he was extremely wide eyed. Behind him came the most furious looking vigoroth anyone had ever seen, screaming the vigoroth equivalent of bloody murder.

Blue and May didn't even know how to react to the current situation. Red was running at such a speed, it seemed almost impossible for a human to run at that speed. He had a pleading face that seemed to say something along the lines of _'Are you going to do something or are you just going to stand there?_'

Blue called out his machamp and commanded, "Use karate chop!"

The fighting type pokémon dealt a strong blow that knocked out the Vigoroth.

Red sat down, panting heavily. He looked tired from all that running-and for good reason, too.

"What the hell happened?" asked Blue.

Still panting heavily, Red didn't answer.

"Seriously Red, what happened?" May asked.

When he finally caught his breath, he answered, "I was trying to get us breakfast, but when I was about to get the Pokémon, the parents showed up. I ended up just running, and the mother chased me up to here."

"What an idiot," Blue muttered.

May remembered the Vigoroth on the ground.

She looked at both her mentors and asked, "What are we going to do with that Vigoroth, just leave it there?"

Blue replied sarcastically, "How about we eat it?" May didn't detect the sarcasm and started to frown.

"I was kidding," Blue said, defending himself.

Red shook his head and said, "I guess we're skipping breakfast."

Blue didn't seem to mind, while May acted as if the end of the world had begun.

"Wait, is Brendan even awake?" asked May.

Blue grinned and said, "I'll wake him up right now."

He walked up to his tent and called out his Blastoise. He then ordered, "Use rain dance in the tent."

A blue orb shot from Blastoise's mouth and went inside the tent.

Inside, they could hear girlish screams coming from inside the tent. Brendan came running from inside the tent with his clothes drenched in water.

He sent a death glare at Blue and said, "I hate you."

Blue raised his hands defensively and said, "How did you know it was me?" He tried to conceal his laughter, but failed and burst into a fit of hysterics.

"Okay, Okay. Sorry for that," Blue said, attempting an apology.

Brendan, not really caring said, "It's fine. I just want to get going."

Blue was surprised at his calmness, and nodded.

"Alright, time to pack up," commanded Blue.

After cleaning up, Brendan asked, "Wait, what about breakfast?"

May answered him by saying, "I'll tell you later, okay?" Brendan nodded.

After walking for about an hour, and crossing a bridge in which Brendan fell in, they finally reached Rustboro.

Red observed the city. It seemed more urban than the other cities he had been in, with a lot of technology lining the streets.

The quartet walked around the large city in search of the Pokémon gym. After about ten minutes of walking around, they finally located it.

"Ready to battle the first gym leader?" asked Blue

"Yeah!" replied Brendan and May. They were both extremely excited, but who could blame them?

They entered the building and found it empty except for two people. One was a man, and the other was a woman with brownish hair in 2 separate ponytails, a purple-blue blazer with a skirt, and pink leggings. the man wore a yellow long sleeve and black shorts.

The four trainers approached them, with Brendan asking the woman, "Are you the gym leader?"

She smiled and replied, "Why yes I am. Are you challengers?"

Brendan and May nodded, while Red and Blue backed away a bit.

"You guys are the first challengers I've had all day! My name is Roxanne. I'm the gym leader here, and this is the referee," she said.

"Nice to meet you Roxanne, I'm Brendan! I want to battle you first!" replied a determined Brendan.

"Nice to meet you Brendan, and alright, let's go to the field," said Roxanne. She was happy to finally have a challenger.

After making their way to the field, Blue and May went to the stands to watch the match. Red however, walked with Brendan, had a short conversation with him, and then went to join the others in the stands.

"What'd you tell you him?" asked Blue.

Red smiled and replied, "I just gave him a strategy."

"This will be a Pokémon battle between gym leader Roxanne and challenger Brendan. Each trainer may only use 3 Pokémon. Begin at any time," the referee announced.

"I'll call my Pokémon first," Roxanne said as she called out her first Pokémon. She chose a Geodude.

Brendan smirked and called out his Mudkip.

'_Just remember what Red told you. If I do what he said, I should win this,_' he thought to himself.

"Alright Geodude, use tackle," Roxanne ordered.

The rock Pokémon charged at Mudkip, but was painfully slow.

"Mudkip, dodge it quickly and use water gun."

The water Pokémon easily evaded the attack and used his water gun, hitting Geodude. Due to the attack being four times super effective, it resulted in a one hit knock-out.

"Mudkip has defeated Geodude. This round goes to the challenger Brendan," the referee said.

May and Blue were cheering, while Red sat there, nonchalantly watching the battle unfold.

Roxanne called back her fainted Pokémon, and sent out another Geodude.

"Geodude, use tackle," she ordered.

"Dodge and use water gun again," Brendan said.

This Geodude, however, was much faster than the previous one, and was able to get the hit on Mudkip and make the water Pokémon stagger.

"Use rock throw," Roxanne commanded.

The rock Pokémon picked up a giant rock from the ground, and hurled it towards the still staggering Mudkip. The rock throw hit and knocked out Mudkip.

"Geodude has defeated Mudkip. This round goes to gym leader Roxanne," the referee said.

Even though he lost the round, Brendan was still smiling. He looked up towards Red and gave him thumbs up, while Red simply nodded.

"So what plan did you give him anyway, Red?" asked May.

"You'll see," he said quietly,

Brendan called his second and last Pokémon.

"Alright Shroomish, I know you can do this!" he exclaimed.

Making the first move in this round, Brendan said, "Shroomish, use leech seed."

Suddenly, Shroomish launched four seeds that stuck to Geodude. They sprouted instantly and started draining the rock Pokémon's energy.

Roxanne, realizing the situation she was in ordered, "Geodude, use tackle."

"Dodge and get behind him!" ordered Brendan.

The rock Pokémon charged Shroomish, but even though it was fast,

Shroomish dodged it was ease and went behind Geodude.

"Use mega drain!" Brendan said.

The grass type shot out a beam that encased Geodude, and suddenly began taking more energy. With the combined damage of leech seed and mega drain, Geodude was knocked out.

"Shroomish has defeated Geodude. This round goes to the challenger Brendan," the referee said.

Roxanne smiled and called out her strongest pokémon.

"Alright Nosepass, let's do this!" an excited Roxanne said.

"Nosepass, use rock tomb!" Roxanne ordered.

Nosepass jumped high in the air and landed a few feet in front of Shroomish. Upon landing, four large rocks came up and damaged Shroomish, also lowering the grass type's speed.

"Quick, use leech seed and retreat!" Brendan said.

The grass type shot seeds towards Nosepass, which sprouted and started draining energy. It was then able to quickly get to the opposite side of the field.

Taking note of the distance between them, Roxanne said, "Nosepass, use rock throw."

The rock pokémon picked up a rock from the field and threw it with amazing force towards Shroomish.

"Shroomish, dodge it!" Brendan ordered.

Despite it being injured, Shroomish was able to dodge. It then regained more energy due to leech seed.

"Nosepass, tackle!" Roxanne said.

"Go between his legs Shroomish!" Brendan said.

The rock type tried to attack Shroomish, but the small grass type was able to slide between its legs.

"Use mega drain!" Brendan ordered.

The grass type once again shot out a beam that drained energy from Nosepass, and absorbed even more with leech seed. Nosepass, however, refused to go down.

"Use rock throw in quick succession!" ordered Roxanne.

Nosepass immediately began throwing multiple rocks at blinding speed.

"Dodge it, Shroomish!" Brendan said.

There were too many rocks however, and Shroomish was bombarded with them. Even after all that, Shroomish still had energy due to the leech seed.

"Nosepass, let's just finish this with a tackle," the gym leader said.

Knowing his Shroomish was severely weakened by the previous attack, Brendan knew that his Shroomish wouldn't be able to dodge the incoming attack. Suddenly however, Nosepass stopped in its tracks when it was inches away from tackling Shroomish.

The leech seed was able to take away all the remaining energy from Nosepass at the last second, and finally knocked out Nosepass.

"The battle goes to the challenger Brendan!" announced the referee.

Blue and May were jumping up and down cheering, while Red sat with a satisfied look.

Roxanne called back her Nosepass and walked over to Brendan.

"Good battle. You sure have a lot of potential! I hope we can battle again soon," Roxanne said congratulating him. "Here is the Stone Badge. You earned it," she continued as she handed him the badge.

"Sweet! I can't believe I did it!" Brendan said as he took the badge.

Red, Blue, and May walked up to him.

"Good job. I didn't think you had it in you," said Blue.

Red nodded at Brendan, while Brendan smiled at him.

"Wow Brendan, that was really good!" May said.

She the turned to Roxanne and said, "I'll be your next challenger!"

Roxanne nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go heal my pokémon. I'll be right back."

**Next chapter, May has her own battle with Roxanne. Remember to go vote on my profile on the pairing you want. I even put an option for no pairings if you feel this story should be strictly adventure and no romance. I also put pairings with Green, and if enough people vote for her, I'll add her to the story. Poll closes on June 28. Also, remember to check out my beta reader, K. E. Holt. Thanks!**


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